From there to here.

Where to start?

The last few days have been an unexpected amalgamation of odd and unusual circumstances that have resulted in my immense (but short-lived) insanity.

For those who have been following my quickie updates on Facebook, much of this will be redundant (but with more of a humorous outlook on the situation, seeing as though the stress has now departed from me).

I arrived in Vancouver airport just on time, got through security, sat and waited for boarding to commence, and then subsequently boarded. I was seated by an adorable old couple who were going on a Panama cruise – so they could mark it off their bucket list. They were precious, and wonderful neighbors for the duration of our 4.5 hour flight. The plane was one of the most technologically advanced that I have ever been on – complete with a USB port for charging iPods, and outlet to charge the laptops (or anything else that the heart desires). All in all, it was a pleasant experience (despite the delay).

We arrived in the Toronto Airport an hour after we should have, leaving those of us with connections scrambling to make it. (At that moment I was regretting packing so many books in my carry-ons.) Having to hustle from one side of the airport to the other reminded how terribly out of shape I am. I arrived at the gate, bought some lemonade, sat my tush down, and waited. And waited. And waited. Then over the intercom I hear “We are so sorry Ladies and Gentlemen, but the flight is delayed until 19:30  (or something of the like).” So I waited. And waited. And as the time passed 19:30 (or something of the like), I heard the intercom again, and I hoped it would be to announce that we were boarding soon!

But it wasn’t.

Instead, they announced that the flight was cancelled, which left us all dumbfounded. We looked around at eachother, and I could tell that some just got up to go home, some got up to yell at the innocent check-in crew, and the others started wandering aimlessly trying to make sense of it. I was in the latter. They corralled us and moved us like a very unhappy herd of cattle to the Air Canada help desk, where they informed us that they would either take us home in a Limo, or book a Hotel for us and give us vouchers for all our meals. Despite how fun I thought it would be to have them drive me like 12 hours home, I picked the Hotel, as did the girl I met during this whole thing.

So we waited outside for a good hour before the bus picked us up. As soon as the bus arrived, everyone ran towards it, and hoisted their bags up, and sat down. Just as the bus was almost full, a 5’3” woman hops on and yells at the whole bus for not letting the families with children board first. “We have babies out in the cold” they said. “Please can someone just get off??” Anni and I looked at each other and decided we would heed Psycho’s (as we called her from then on) demands. However, as soon as we got off the bus and got our luggage off, I turned around and saw her going back into the airport, because there wasn’t enough room.

So we sat there for another half hour, boarded the next bus, and got to the Travelodge in just a few minutes. We checked in, got to our rooms, and took showers, and went to dinner…then I slept for eight beautiful hours. :)

The next day we got breakfast and went sightseeing, and got back to the airport, stood in line for a good 2.5 hours, and got our next flight information. We had a little bit before we had to go, so we got sushi and donuts for the flight. The airplane had NONE of the wonderful technological features that I have come to love (personal TV’s, etc.), so I was sure that this was going to be a never-ending flight. However, the flight ended up only being about half full, so we got to move around, and I got 2 seats to myself, so I slept for 7 of the 8.5 hours. :)

Then when I got to the Warsaw airport and found the transfer information desk, I asked them about what flight I would be taking to Istanbul. I saw the guy get pretty flustered and make a lot of phone calls because of the fact that the only flight going to Istanbul that night was leaving in just an hour. So the lady at the counter had to hand-write my boarding pass, and I started the trek across the airport to the passport check and gates. I handed the passport and makeshift boarding pass and they looked at me like I was an IDIOT and sent me away. I tried to tell them that the transfer information guy had just sent me with that because the printed one would only be available at the gate, but NOOOO.

So I walked all the way back to transfer information, and the guy must have seen how frustrated and upset I was because immediately when I said that they wouldn’t take it, he got his jacket and accompanied me to the passport check. After a few minutes of talking in Polish, he won! I might have given the mean lady a slight smile as he escorted me through. :) Happy moment.

From there we practically had to RUN to my gate, and I got there just in time. :)

When I boarded the plane, I was reluctantly pondering who I would be sitting next to…An old creepy guy? A YOUNG creepy guy? A sweet old lady? When I got to my seat, I saw a cute young couple with a precious baby boy, probably about 6 months old.

Wait – let me stop. He was precious. Then he was kinda cute. Then he was bearable. Then he was annoying. Then he was the DEVIL CHILD WITH MUTANT LUNGS.

Long flight. It felt longer then the 8.5 hour one that preceded it (and it was only 2.5 hours).

I got off, got my luggage, got picked up by David, rode the Catamaran across the Bosphorus, and took a Taxi ride to their apartment. There, I took a shower, chatted with David and Ulrike, had some tea and a bowl of icecream, then fell fast asleep. :)